The grinding world of politics from the Los Angeles Daily News

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Monthly Archives: April 2010

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Warning: Some of the images in this commercial are graphic.
Insurance Commissioner Stevev Poizner, in his bid for the GOP nomination for governor, might have gone to new levels in the “ick factor” in his newest television commercial attacking Meg Whitman.
It is not the script for the ad, called “Vulture” that attacks Whitman’s association with Goldman Sachs : but the images of a vulture feasting on some road kill that could turn people off.
If the intent is to get attetion, it might work. But it might also turn as many people off.
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In a major coup for Los Angeles, a Chinese solar energy and automobile firm announced Thursday it will locate its U.S. headquarters here, potentially creating hundreds of new jobs.Daily News.
BYD, a manufacturer of batteries and electric-hybrid vehicles that is partly owned by billionaire Warren Buffett, said it selected Los Angeles to be its U.S. base after reviewing offers from other California cities.

The initial plans call for locating the new headquarters at 1800 S. Figueroa St., at a site that once served as a car dealership.

Calling Arizona’s tough new immigration law unpatriotic and unconstitutional, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Thursday said he supports an economic boycott of the state and urged swift action on federal immigration reform.Daily News.

Surrounded by immigration activists at his City Hall office, Villaraigosa said the Arizona law, which gives police the right to detain people suspected of being in the country illegally, opened the doors to seek true reform on a national level.

“The need for a complete reform of immigration laws is nothing new,” Villaraigosa said. “We now find ourselves once again in a debate. We can choose to move forward for a more perfect union or move back to fight the tyranny we did 200 years ago.

Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office employees don’t feel safe at the morgue and say managers are not fair when it comes to issuing take-home vehicles and work assignments, according to an audit released Thursday.Trpy Anderson in the Daily News.

The 132-page report, by Washington State-based firm Strategica Inc., found a host of management problems that, if not corrected, could result in autopsy backlogs, threaten the department’s accreditation and jeopardize law enforcement’s ability to investigate and prosecute homicide cold cases.

“Many of the problems seem to center on a perceived disconnect between employee performance and recognition, perceived favoritism and inequitable treatment of staff,” the auditors wrote. “Many described a climate of favoritism in which some employees are given privileges (e.g., take-home cars), are not disciplined and get better assignments.”

Los Angeles may have to euthanize an additional 11,000 animals in city shelters next year if Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the City Council go through with cuts that critics say will gut the city’s animal services.Tony Castro in the Daily News.

The city killed more than 19,000 unwanted dogs and cats and 4,000 other animals last year. But some city officials and rescue advocates say a proposed $1.8 million reduction to Los Angeles’ Animal Services department will not only mean more euthanasia, but more animals roaming around uncontrolled on the streets.